Laura E. Sockol, Ph.D.

Davidson College Laboratory for Risk and Treatment Studies (LabRATS)

What Factors Affect the Attachment Security of Premature Babies?

  -Written by Katie Little ‘18 Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Procedure assesses the bonds babies have with their mothers by observing babies’ reactions to a series of episodes in which their mothers leave and return. Babies who are securely attached become distressed when their mothers leave, but they are later soothed when she returns (Ainsworth […]

The Warning Signal Hypothesis

Written By Alexis Mitchell UNCC ‘18 An intrusive memory is a type of negative memory that is generally experienced through short, vivid sensory fragments such as: visual image, taste, smell, sound, or bodily sensation (Ehlers et al, 2002). Intrusive memories are an enigmatic aspect of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that researchers have sought to explain and […]

Role of Searching for Meaning in Trauma and Nontrauma-Exposed Emerging Adults

Written By Alexis Mitchell UNCC ’18 The incidence of trauma during emerging adulthood (aged 18-25; Arnett, 2005) is 84%-90% (Woo & Brown, 2013).  The exploration of roles, identity, and world views are developmental characteristics of emerging adults. These characteristics may be beneficial to a certain degree, however, they may also compromise an individual’s capacity to process and […]

Does Attachment Classification Change from Infancy to Adulthood?

-Written by Katie Little ‘18 In previous blog posts, we have discussed attachment between mothers and their infants, as well as between adults in close relationships (Please see the blog posts “What Does Attachment Theory Tell Us about Romantic Love?” and “Mary Ainsworth and the Strange Situation Procedure” for more information.) To review, attachment is […]

What Creates Mother-Infant Bonds?

-Written by Katie Little ‘18 In 1958, psychologists generally believed that behavior was primarily motivated by survival related drives, such as hunger, thirst, pain, and sex. They determined that all other motives, including love, were secondary to these basic drives and therefore based upon them. From this perspective, the love between a mother and her […]

How Can We Measure Adult Attachment?

-Written by Katie Little ’18 How can we measure adult attachment? It’s certainly easier said than done. When Hazan and Shaver (1987) first came up with the concept of adult attachment as a means of explaining romantic bonds, they used Ainsworth’s categories of adult attachment—secure, anxious/ambivalent, and avoidant (For more information, see the blog post “What […]

Emotional Responses in Women with PTSD using Film Stimuli

Written by Alexis Mitchell UNCC ‘18 Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder can be emotionally triggered by their environments. This can occur when something in the individual’s environment “sets off” a memory or an intrusive thought, either about or related to a previous traumatic experience. Often enough, these individuals may respond to environmental triggers in a dysfunctional […]

Mary Ainsworth and the Strange Situation Procedure

-Written by Katie Little ’18 Attachment theory was originally used to study mother-infant bonding. The term was coined by John Bowlby, but one of its most famous applications was with Mary Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure (To watch a video of Mary Ainsworth’s procedure, please see below.). In a 1970 article co-authored by Sylvia Bell, Ainsworth described attachment as […]

Autobiographical Memories and Intimacy

Written by Alexis Mitchell UNCC ’18 Self-disclosure, the act of sharing self-relevant information with others, has been a common research topic for those studying intimacy in relationships. Another topic among research surrounding intimacy are the potential benefits of including autobiographical memories into a conversation. An autobiographical memory refers to a memory for something that you […]

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